Our Current Research Projects

Landscape, Nursery, and Greenhouse IPM Research: Biological control can be used to reduce pest abundance and damage in greenhouse crops but efficacy can be inconsistent . Our goal is to increase reliability and adoption of biological control by understanding the ecology of interactions between plants, pests, and natural enemies. Read more about our specific research projects below.

Urban Ecology Research: No plants or animals evolved in cities. Some insects, like many tree pests, thrive in cities. Others, like many bees, become sick or scarce or disappear all together. Despite the challenges, cities actually support a surprising amount of biodiversity and important ecosystem functions. For example, pollination and decomposition carry on in cities, albeit with a novel cast of characters. Trees and plants support urban food webs but are often too few or in too poor condition to provide all the ecosystem services we rely on. We study how urbanization affects trees, plant pests, and beneficial insects to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services. Read more about our specific research projects below.